Incinerator system for dry waste material

ABSTRACT

An incinerating apparatus having a curtain of air under pressure inclined downwardly into a fire pit and above the waste inlet to support combustion and to prevent the discharge of pollutants into the atmosphere.

[ Dec. 23, 1975 United States Patent 11 1 Fokakis et al.

[5 INCINERATOR SYSTEM FOR DRY WASTE 3,516,370 6/1970Stribling.................................. 110/7 MATERIAL 3.77390011/1973 110/8 1/1974 110/8 Applegatemw...

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7 mil "0 ll Mr C d 5mm UIF mum 555 [ll An incinerating apparatus havinga curtain of air under pressure inclined downwardly into a fire pit andabove the waste inlet to support combustion and to prevent the dischargeof pollutants into the atmosphere.

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures2,702,013 2/1955 Atteberryuuw.....1................ 110/1 3 6 j l m F.1%

U5. Patent Dec. 23, 1975 Sheet 1 of2 US. Patent Dec.23, 1975 Sheet20f23,927,626

FIG. 2

FIG. 4

INCINERATOR SYSTEM FOR DRY WASTEv MATERIAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONIn the past, the burning of waste material was a com-.

mon practice since it was an easy and inexpensive way to dispose of suchmaterial. However, the burning of waste material produced smokeincluding unburned carbon and other pollutants which have been found tobe detrimental to the health of humans and other plant and animal life.In recent years, the US Government, as represented by the EnvironmentalProtection Agency, has established rules and regulations for controllingthe introduction of pollutants into the atmosphere so that most openburning is no longer permitted. As a result, it has been necessary todispose of the waste material by other means, such as regional sanitarylandfills and the like. Due to the objectionable nature of a sanitarylandfill, as well as the increase in population which has caused thevalue of land and the taxes thereon to increase a substantial amount, itis sometimes necessary to transport the waste material many miles toless populous areas for disposal. This, of course, has substantiallyraised the cost of the disposal of waste materials.

Some efforts have been made to dispose of waste materials in a moreeconomical manner including by incineration in which air under pressurehas been introduced into a fire box or pit in order to supportcombustion, as well as to raise the temperature and cause the materialto burn more rapidly. However, these prior art devices normally havebeen used for liquids such as wastepetroleum products, chemicals, andthe like, or solid carbonaceous fuels such as coal which have providedsubstantially different problems. Some examples of the prior art are theU.S. Pat. Nos. to Culver 1,931,181; Hennecke 3,033,134; Lytton et al3,039,151; Ball et a1 3,483,832; and Davies 3,704,676.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is embodied in anincinerator system for a cotton gin or the like which includes acollector-separator connected to various areas of a cotton gin by aplurality of air ducts so that lint and other waste material can becollected throughout the gin and discharged by air under pressure intothe collector-separator. Within the collector-separator the heavierwaste material falls by gravity to a discharge conveyor while the air isvented through an air duct at the top of the separator. The solid wastematerial is removed from the collector-separator'by the conveyor and isdischarged into the lower portion of an elongated distributor withinwhich the waste material is spread out and is discharged through anelongated downwardly inclined nozzle into a fire pit. Simultaneously airunder pressure from the upper portion of the separator is introducedinto the upper portion of the distributor and such air is dischargedthroughanelongated nozzle overlying the material nozzle and inclineddownwardly at an angle into the fire pit. The air under pressure beingdischarged from the distributor forms a curtain of air which extendsentirely across the fire pit and overlies the burning waste material. Atthe opposite side of the pit the curtain of air is diverted so that itswirls into the mass of burning waste material to support substantiallycomplete combustion of such material as well as to cause the material toburn at a higher temperature. Since pollution laden heat tends to rise,the curtain of 0 air under pressure causes the smoke and pollutants toremain within the pit so that they do not escape to atmosphere.

It is anobject of the invention to provide an incinerator system forburning the dry waste material of a cotton gin which utilizes air underpressure from the air lift means within the gin to cause substantiallycomplete combustion of waste material from the gin while preventing theintroduction of smoke and other pollutants into the atmosphere.

Another object of the invention is to provide an incinerator apparatusincluding a tire pit and a distributor having a first portion forintroducing waste material into, the pit and a second portion forprojecting a curtain of air under pressure into the pit "and above thewaste material being introduced thereinto.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective viewillustrating one application of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical section thereof.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged section on the line 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged section on the line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a perspective with portions broken away illustrating theapparatus for distributing the dry waste material.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged section on the line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With continued reference to thedrawings, most cotton gins are provided with a plurality of air ducts 10which may be connected to a central air pressure supply (not shown) forairlifting lint and other waste material to a waste disposal area suchas a railroad car or the like so that such waste material can be movedto a distant location for disposal. If desired, each of the ducts mayhave an independent fan or other source of supply of air under pressurefor removing lint and other waste material from the gin.

With particular reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the present inventionincludes a collector-separator 11 having upright side walls 12, a topwall 13, and a bottom wall 14. Each of the air ducts l0 communicateswith the interior of the collector-separator 11 through openings 15located in the upper portion of the side walls 12 so that air underpressure as well as lint and other waste material are discharged intothe collector-separator. In the drawings the air is represented bybroken line arrows 16, while the lint and other waste material isrepresented by full line arrows 17.

An inwardly and downwardly inclined generally frustoconical partition 18is located at the lower portion of the collector-separator 11 and suchpartition terminates at a central opening 19 which extends through thebottom wall 14. When the air with the lint and other 3 waste materialentrained therein is discharged into the collector-separator 11, thevelocity of the air is sharply reduced while the pressure remainssubstantially constant so that the waste material falls out ofsuspension and gravitates to the bottom of the collector-separator wheresuch material is discharged through the opening 19. An enclosed conveyor22, such as an auger, endless belt, or the like, is located below theopening 19 for removing the solid particles of waste material dischargedfrom the collector-separator 11. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the conveyor22 includes an auger 23 located within a housing 24 and such augerincludes a shaft 25 driven by a power plant 26 through a speed reducer27.

The end of the conveyor 22 remote from the collector-separator 11discharges waste material into the neck 28 of an elongated distributor29 having upper and lower compartments 30 and 31, respectively, whichare separated by a partition 32. The partition 32 includes a portion 33which extends through the neck 28 so that the upper and lowercompartments extend through the neck. With particular reference to FIG.4, the lower compartment 31 may be provided with a bearing 34 torotatably support the end of the auger 23. Within the lower compartment31 of the distributor 29, a pair of outwardly diverging partitions orwalls 35 are provided which extend from the neck 28 to opposite ends ofthe lower compartment so that waste material discharged into the lowercompartment by the conveyor can spread out along the entire length ofthe distributor. An elongated nozzle or chute 36 is located along thedistributor 29 on the side opposite the neck 28 and such nozzle isinclined downwardly at an angle of approximately 30 for dischargingwaste material from the distributor in a generally downward direction.

At the top of the collector-separator 11, an air discharge duct 37communicates with the interior of the collector-separator so that aircan escape therefrom. Since the cross-sectional area of the air duct 37is substantially less than the area of the collector-separator 11, thevelocity of the air passing through the air duct is substantiallyincreased. The opposite end of the air discharge duct 37 communicateswith the neck 28 of the distributor 29 generally in alignment with theupper compartment 30 so that air under pressure passes from thecollector-separator 11 into the distributor 29. An elongated downwardlyinclined air nozzle 38 is located along the entire length of thedistributor 29 and is adapted to discharge a curtain of air in adownward direction from the upper compartment 30 of the distributor. Inpractice the opening within the air nozzle constitutes a slit, the totalarea of which is less than the cross-sectional area of the air dischargeduct 37, so that the velocity of the air being discharged from the uppercompartment is greater than the velocity of the air entering the uppercompartment. As soon as the air is discharged from the nozzle 38, thepressure of the air drops to atmospheric pressure, however, the velocityof the air causes such air to flow in a layer or curtain.

As illustrated best in FIGS. 1 and 2, the distributor 29 is locatedalong one edge of an open fire box or pit 40 having wall structure 41 ofmetal, fire brick, or other heat resistant material, or such pit couldbe a well defined hole in the earth. Ordinarily, the distributor 29 andthe open pit 40 are of substantially the same length. Preferably thewall 42 opposite the distributor 29 is generally arcuate so that thecurtain of air from the air nozzle 38 impinges on such wall and isdiverted in a generally swirling motion back toward the central portionof the pit.

In order to assist in spreading the dry waste material within the lowercompartment 31, the partition portion 33 within the neck 28 is providedwith an opening 43 providing communication between the upper and lowercompartments. A trap door or valve plate 44 has one end mounted on ahinge 45 and such trap door may be selectively operated to open or closethe opening 43. A pair of opposed guide members 46 are mounted on theupper surface of the trap door and such guide members retain a slide 47so that the slide can move longitudinally of the trap door. The slide 47is connected by a swivel connection 48 to an operating screw 49 whichextends upwardly through a threaded boss 50 in the upper portion of theneck 28 and terminates in an operating handle or wheel 51. The trap door44 is adapted to open toward the direction of airflow through the airdischarge duct 37 so that when the trap door is open a small portion ofthe air under pressure passing through the air discharge duct isdiverted into the lower compartment 31 to cause the dry waste materialto spread out throughout the lower compartment.

If desired, a damper 52 having an operating handle 53 may be provided inthe air discharge duct 37 to control the passage of air through thedischarge duct.

In the operation of the device, air under pressure having lint and otherwaste material from the cotton gin entrained therein is discharged intothe collectorseparator 11 where the air pressure remains substantiallyconstant but the velocity is sharply reduced so that the solid wastematerial falls by gravity to the bottom of the collector-separator whilesubstantially clean air is discharged through the air discharge duct 37at the top of the collector-separator. The solid waste material whichfalls to the bottom of the collector-separator 11 is discharged by theconveyor 22 into the lower compartment 31 of the distributor 29 wheresuch material is spread out and is discharged through the nozzle 36 intothe pit 40. At the beginning of operation, the damper 52 is closed tointerrupt the passage of air through the discharge duct 37 and a smallamount of waste material is discharged into the pit and ignited in aconventional manner. Thereafter the damper 52 is opened so that airpasses through the discharge duct into the upper compartment 30 wherethe velocity of such air is increased as it passes through the airnozzle 38 so that such air forms a curtain or blanket of air whichextends substantially entirely across the pit 40. A small portion of theair passing through the discharge duct 37 normally is diverted by thetrap door 44 into the lower compartment 31 to assist in spreading anddischarging the waste material through the nozzle 36 and below thecurtain of air from the nozzle 38. At the opposite side of the pit thecurtain of air impinges on the wall structure of the pit and is causedto return to the central portion of the pit in a swirling action whichprovides oxygen to support substantially complete combustion of thewaste material within the pit as well as to cause the material to burnat a higher temperature. Since the curtain of air is located above thefire, any smoke or other pollutants which rise from the pit are caughtin the airflow of the curtain and returned to the pit so thatsubstantially no smoke or pollutants are discharged into the atmosphere.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for burning dry waste material within an open pitcomprising a collector-separator, means for introducing dry wastematerial and air under pressure into said collector-separator, the drywaste material and the air being substantially separated from each otherwithin said collector-separator, distributor means spaced from saidcollector-separator, conveyor means connecting the lower portion of saidcollector-separator with said distributor means for moving dry wastematerial from said collector-separator to said distributor means, firstnozzle means on said distributor means for discharging waste materialfrom the distributor means into the open pit, air duct means connectingthe upper portion of said collector-separator with said distributormeans for moving air under pressure from said collector-separator tosaid distributor means, second nozzle means on said distributor meansfor discharging air at high velocity from said distributor means intothe open pit, said second nozzle means overlying said first nozzle meansand extending substantially the full length of the pit, whereby the airdischarged from said distributor means through said second nozzle meansforms a curtain of air above the waste material in the pit and isdiverted into the waste material to support combustion when the materialis ignited as well as to substantially prevent the discharge ofpollutants into the atmosphere.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which said conveyor means includes ahousing, an auger rotatably mounted within said housing, and means fordriving said auger.

3. The structure of claim 1 in which said distributor means includes agenerally horizontally disposed partition dividing said distributormeans into upper and lower compartments, said conveyor means and saidfirst nozzle means communicating with said lower compartment, and saidair duct means and said second nozzle means communicating with saidupper compartment.

4. The structure of claim 3 in which said partition has an opening, trapdoor means located adjacent to said openings, and means for operatingsaid trap door means to open and close said opening to selectivelyprovide communication between said upper and lower compartments.

5. Apparatus for burning waste material comprising acollector-separator, at least one first air duct for introducing wastematerial suspended in air under pressure into said collector-separator,the waste material falling out of suspension within saidcollector-separator and gravitating to the lower portion thereof,conveyor means for discharging the waste material from the lower portionof said collector-separator, an elongated distributor, a generallyhorizontally disposed partition dividing said distributor into upper andlower compartments, said conveyor means communicating with the lowercompartment for introducing waste material thereinto, first nozzle meanscommunicating with the lower compartment for discharging waste materialtherefrom, open pit means located adjacent to said distributor forreceiving the waste material from said first nozzle means, a second airduct extending from the upper portion of said collector-separator to theupper compartment of said distributor for introducing air under pressureinto said upper compartment, second nozzle means extending substantiallythe full length of said distributor and overlying said first nozzlemeans, said second nozzle means being inclined downwardly to dischargeair from said upper compartment across and into said pit, whereby theair under pressure from said second nozzle means forms a curtain abovethe open pit and impinges on the wall structure thereof and then isdiverted into the waste material to support combustion of the wastematerial when the waste material is ignited.

1. Apparatus for burning dry waste material within an open pitcomprising a collector-separator, means for introducing dry wastematerial and air under pressure into said collector-separator, the drywaste material and the air being substantially separated from each otherwithin said collector-separator, distributor means spaced from saidcollector-separator, conveyor means connecting the lower portion of saidcollector-separator with said distributor means for moving dry wastematerial from said collector-separator to said distributor means, firstnozzle means on said distributor means for discharging waste materialfrom the distributor means into the open pit, air duct means connectingthe upper portion of said collector-separator with said distributormeans for moving air under pressure from said collector-separator tosaid distributor means, second nozzle means on said distributor meansfor discharging air at high velocity from said distributor means intothe open pit, said second nozzle means overlying said first nozzle meansand extending substantially the full length of the pit, whereby the airdischarged from said distributor means through said second nozzle meansforms a curtain of air above the waste material in the pit and isdiverted into the waste material to support combustion when the materialis ignited as well as to substantially prevent the discharge ofpollutants into the atmosphere.
 2. The structure of claim 1 in whichsaid conveyor means includes a housing, an auger rotatably mountedwithin said housing, and means for driving said auger.
 3. The structurEof claim 1 in which said distributor means includes a generallyhorizontally disposed partition dividing said distributor means intoupper and lower compartments, said conveyor means and said first nozzlemeans communicating with said lower compartment, and said air duct meansand said second nozzle means communicating with said upper compartment.4. The structure of claim 3 in which said partition has an opening, trapdoor means located adjacent to said openings, and means for operatingsaid trap door means to open and close said opening to selectivelyprovide communication between said upper and lower compartments. 5.Apparatus for burning waste material comprising a collector-separator,at least one first air duct for introducing waste material suspended inair under pressure into said collector-separator, the waste materialfalling out of suspension within said collector-separator andgravitating to the lower portion thereof, conveyor means for dischargingthe waste material from the lower portion of said collector-separator,an elongated distributor, a generally horizontally disposed partitiondividing said distributor into upper and lower compartments, saidconveyor means communicating with the lower compartment for introducingwaste material thereinto, first nozzle means communicating with thelower compartment for discharging waste material therefrom, open pitmeans located adjacent to said distributor for receiving the wastematerial from said first nozzle means, a second air duct extending fromthe upper portion of said collector-separator to the upper compartmentof said distributor for introducing air under pressure into said uppercompartment, second nozzle means extending substantially the full lengthof said distributor and overlying said first nozzle means, said secondnozzle means being inclined downwardly to discharge air from said uppercompartment across and into said pit, whereby the air under pressurefrom said second nozzle means forms a curtain above the open pit andimpinges on the wall structure thereof and then is diverted into thewaste material to support combustion of the waste material when thewaste material is ignited.